Last Wednesday, Chris sat down with TriMet’s Neil McFarlane for a discussion focused on your questions. This has become a sort of annual tradition for Portland Transport, and this year we were very pleased to be hosted by the Portland Opera – the Opera headquarters is located on the east bank of the Willamette just inches (48 to be specific) from the new transit/bike/ped bridge currently under construction.

The interview session is divided into four videos. We’ll be posting one a day this week – here’s Part 1:

Part 1 is mainly about high-capacity projects, now and in the future. Here’s some of the questions addressed:

Will the new bridge be open for bikes and peds before transit operations begin?

How will the “Orange Line” be operated? Will it interline with the Yellow Line?

What is the fate of high capacity to Clark County now that the CRC is officially dead?

How does the vote in Tigard affect SW Corridor planning? What’s TriMet’s view on what the ballot measure means?

Is a transit tunnel serving OHSU still on the table

Is the Powell/Division corridor being positioned to leapfrog the SW Corridor project?

Does TriMet have a strong modal preference (BRT, LRT) for the Powell/Division project?

Abstracts: How do you explain complex ideas? What do you say when reporters ask you to guess about the future? ODOT spokesperson and public affairs manager Dave Thompson will share tips on how to explain a complex topic to reporters and concerned citizens.